Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (a.k.a Halloween 7), is a 1998 American slasher film and is the seventh installment in the Halloween film series. It is directed by Steve Miner and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, LL Cool J, Josh Hartnett and Michelle Williams. The film was released on August 5, 1998 to mark the 20th anniversary of the original Halloween. The story was developed and created by Robert Zappia. The screenplay was written by Robert Zappia and Matt Greenberg. It is a direct sequel to John Carpenter's Halloween and Halloween II and set in an alternate timeline in which the events that transpired in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers never occurred (rendering those films non-canon). Set twenty years after the events of the first two movies, H20 centers on a post-traumatic Laurie Strode living in fear of her murderous brother, Michael Myers, who attempted to kill her all those years ago. When Michael eventually appears, Laurie must face evil one last time while the life of her teenage son hangs in the balance. The film also features many homages to the original film, many of Miner's earlier work, Psycho (which was one of the film inspirations for the original Halloween and starred Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis's mother, who portrayed Norma Watson in this film) and Scream, a 1996 horror/slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson that was inspired by the original Halloween. Plot Twenty years after the events of Halloween, Marion Chambers Whittington, Dr. Sam Loomis's colleague, returns to her home in Langdon, Illinois, on October 29, 1998, to find it has been burglarized. Her neighbor Jimmy Howell searches the house and finds nothing. While waiting for the police in her house, Marion discovers a medical file is missing, the one on Laurie Strode (Michael Myers' sister who escaped the attacks 20 years earlier). Marion also realizes that someone is indeed in her house and immediately rushes back over to Jimmy's house where she finds he and a friend dead. Then, Michael Myers attacks and kills her. The police arrive as Michael leaves the house with the file on Laurie Strode. On Halloween two days later, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) awakens from a nightmare. Since 1978, she has tried to get her life together with the hope that Michael would never come after her again. So, she faked her death in an auto accident and relocated to Northern California under the assumed name "Keri Tate". She has a seemingly perfect life with her son, John (Josh Hartnett), a boyfriend Will and a great career as headmistress at Hillcrest Academy High School, a private boarding school. However, Laurie/Keri is far from happy. The tragic events from 1978 still haunt her. Later on that day, Michael manages to find her using the file, and starts stalking the school grounds. As school lets out for the weekend, most of the students leave for a weekend getaway. Later that evening, John and his classmates are having an intimate Halloween party in the basement when John's classmate, Charlie was attacked and killed by Michael. When Charlie's girlfriend, Sarah goes looking for him, she finds Charlie's body, was attacked and killed by Michael. John and Molly go looking for their classmates. They find Sarah's body and are chased by Michael through the school grounds. At one point in the chase, John is stabbed in the leg. Just as Michael is about to get Molly and John, they are saved by Laurie and Will who open the door for them just in time. Just as the door closes behind them, Laurie and Michael come face to face for the first time since their last encounter 20 years earlier. Laurie and Will hide the kids and decide to try to kill Michael. When Will sees a shape approaching from the far end of the hall, he takes Laurie's pistol (which she had secretly kept under her pillow at home during all this time) and shoots the shape five times o nly to discover that it was the school's security guard, Ronny (LL Cool J). The real Michael appears and kills Will. Laurie, Molly, and John escape but she tells them to go for help while she chooses to go back to the school with a fire axe. She finds Michael and attempts to kill him several times and finally after stabbing him multiple times, he topples over a balcony. She approaches his body and pulls one of the knives out of his chest. She slowly raises the knife high above her head, preparing to bring it down on Michael and kill him, but before she can deliver the final blow, Ronny suddenly appears, having survived the accidental shooting and grabs her. He restrains her from attacking Michael and drags her out of the cafeteria. The police come and put Michael's corpse in a body bag, loading it into a coroner's van. Laurie, knowing that Michael is incredibly hard to kill and not believing that he's really dead, grabs the axe from earlier and an officer's pistol and she steals the van. While driving away, Michael sits up and escapes the body bag. She slams on the brakes, throwing him through the windshield. Then, she tries unsuccessfully to run him over. The vehicle tumbles down a cliff but she escapes while Michael gets pinned between the van and a tree. Laurie recovers the axe and approaches him. He reaches out to her, apparently seeking forgiveness and compassion. At first, it seems that she'll accept this and begins reaching out to him, but then she slowly pulls her hand back and with one swing decapitates Michael, finally killing him. Michael's head rolls down the hill and Laurie exhales, as sirens are heard approaching from the distance. Category:Horror Movies Category:Halloween Movies